Protective garment



Sept; 20,1927.

c. H. DAVIS ET AL PROTECTIVE amzm 7 Filed July 19. 1924 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 bt. 20.1927. I ,670

C. H. DAVIS ET AL PROTECTIVE GARIENT Filed July 19. 192 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 czaarze gf $5 I Jferzg I17. neck. r ZY Pate nted Sept, 20, 1927.

' weather.

UNITED STATES.

CHARLES I-LDAVIS AND-HENRY W. LUECK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. v

PROTECTIVE GARMENT.

Application filed July 19,

Our invention relates to protective garad acent the neck of the wearer.

ments and more particularly to a garment for protecting the wearer against electrical shock. v It isa purpose of our invention to provide a garment which will protect the wearer from electrical shock, particularly in wet As is well known, water will conduct electricity and a material that ordinarily serves as an insulator will conduct electricity over I the surface thereof when water is on the as the conductor.

samedue to the fact that the water acts In the case where. work .has to be done on electrical wiring in stormy weather, it often is very dangerous for the line man or other worker because of the fact that a shock. may be given him, due to the I conduction ofthe current along a wet surface, which may be only slight or may be great enough to injure or cause him to fall to the ground or, in losing his balance, make a grab for high tension wires which would cause severe injuryor death due to the shock received from these.

In cases where a lineman is electrocuted or seriously burned because of coming in contact with high tension wires, it is very often the case that instead of grasping the wires through ignorance or intentionally the wires are graspedb the man due to the fact that he is thrown 0 his guard because" of being startled by a comparatively minor shock obtained in the manner set forth above. It is the purpose of our invention to provide a garment that is so made as to avoid the possibility of shock due to moisture prac tically entirely.

n One of the places where ashock is most readily received is at theneck when the usual rubber coat is wet, due to the fact that the current travels along the wet surface of the rubber garment up the neck thereof and then jumps to the neck of the wearer giving him a shock which may be very slight or severe, depending upon whether a hl h or low tension conductor is "contacted wit It is, accordingly, a purpose of our invention to *provide a garment with a neck .portion so constructed that the current can not travel to the edge thereof adjacent the neck from other portionsof the garment, or to provide a neck encircling ortlon or collar that may be a portion of or etachable from a garment such that the current will not travel, when the garment is wet, from said garment to the 1924. Serial 116,727,043.

edge portion of said neck encircling member Preferably, the neck encircling rtion is provided witha' flaring apron or ange-like member that projects from the. main' body portion of the neck member a suflicient'dis flange or apron ortion and due to the fact that the undersi e of the apron or flange and the opposite portion of the main bod portion of the neck are dry, no current wi pass from the main body portion of the arment portion of the neck ad acent the neck of t e wearer.

Another cause of shock in wet weather is due to the fact that the ordinary rubber rain coat, worn by linemen and others climbing over the neck encircling memberto t e ed e 'les, does not protect the carer sufliciently I elow the waist and in cli bing over cross arms and similar members the'wearer of a coat causes the same to be forced upwardly above his knees so that the garments. he

wears under the raincoat will become wet' above. the knees up to and including the crotch portion and will cause a shock tobe transmitted to thecorresponding' portions of the body if the legs of the wearer come in contact with a live current carrying art. In order to avoid this cause of shock we ave provided aprotective garment that completely covers the ordinary arments of the wearer beneath the same, ma e of rubberized material, which in itself is non-conducting.

' Further, to prevent moisture from entering the sleeve of the coat member of the garment, which would cause current to travel rom. the rubber gloves worn by the lineman or other person wearing a garment of this character to a wet coat under the garment, thus giving the wearer a shock, the

sleeves of our improved want are provided with a portion that as an inner and an outerlayer or pl secured together so as to form a water tig t joint substantially at or near the elbow thereof, said double .por-

tion extending to the ends of the sleeves and untlet being ada tedt'o receive the cuff or port1on o a gauntlet glove betweent e inner and outer plies thereof, thus preventing the travelling of water from the surface of the glove into the sleeve and causing the inside of the sleeve to always remain dry.

It is another purpose of the invention to provide a garment of the character described with fastening devices of insulating and waterproof materialyto thus prevent travelaccompanying. drawings proceeds.

ling of the electric current from the outer surface of said garment into the interior thereof through the fastening devices and securing means therefor.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will-appear as the description of the However, we desire to have it d-istinctly'under- .stood that we do not intend to limit our "selves to the exact details shown or described but that we intend to include as part ofv our invention all such obvious changes I and modifications of parts as would occur to person skilled in this art and as would fall within-the scope of the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig.1 is a front elevational-view of our improved garment;

Fi 2 is an enlarged view partly in perspectlve and partly in section of the collar portion of our improved garment;

Fig.f-3- 'is a fragmentary enlarged view part] "in section and partly in elevation of the s eeve portion of our improved garment,

showing the rubber glove or gauntlet in coperative relation thereto;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of theimproved collar or neck encircling member show' the form thereof that is detachable from t e garment mounted on a rubber protective garment or coat-like member Fig. 51s an enlarged sectional view of the collar shown in Fig. 4;

, s -s of Fig. 1.

' trical insulator, havin ,leg

Fig. '6 is an enlarged sectional view of the collar shown in Fig. 2

Fig.'7'is a fragmentary section taken on the line 77 of ig. 1; and

Fig. 8 is a similar View taken on'the line Referring in detail to the 'drawin s, the improved garment comprises a mem er 10 made of rubber or of fabric covered with a suflicient coatingof rubber to act as an elecortions 11 and a body portion 12. T e bo y and leg per-- tions are made of a continuous piece of'ma terial, forming a garment that is all in one 4 piece. The garment 10 is provided with suitable means for closin the same along the opening at the front t ereof comprising loops 14 secured to the overlapping portion 15 of one of the free edges of the garment 1nd tongues 16 secured to the other free edge portion thereof. 1

he garment 10 'is provided with sleeves I 17 and, as; indicated in Fig. 3, said'sleeves 17 are provided with -an inner ply or layer ed with. suitable reinforcing material embedded in the same but which is preferably quite flexible so as to provide an annular pocket 19 between the outer sleeve portion 17 and the inner ply 18 to receive the gauntlet or cuff portion 20 of a rubber glove 21. The garment is also provided with a neck portion 22 which is preferably in the form of a military style collar which conforms closely to the neck of the wearer and is preferably of sufficient stiffness so as to hold'its shape, and prevent the same from dropping down on to the adjoining portion.

of the garment. The stiffening ma 'be obtained by forming a comparatively t ick col lar of rubber with fabric reinforcement which may be of one or more plies and may 7 be molded to shape, although if the collar is cut properly it may not be necessary to mold" the same as it will, when .closed, hold its proper shape due to the circumference of the'various annular portions thereof.

In Fig. 6 one form of constructionfor' an v the collar is shown in which the collar 22 is provided with a plurality of plies 23 of fabric-which are coated with a heavy coating of rubber 24, preferably. a ply of rubber 25 being also provided between the plies of fabric 23. The plies of rubber 24 merge into the material of the coat 10, as clearly shown in Fig. 6, so as to form an integral collar.

of rubber which may, if-desired, be provid- The collar is provided with an apron or forcing plies'and the rubber plies'24 and 25 extend into said flange or apron. The flange or apron is preferably of suflicient stiffness so as to stand out, as shown, from the main body portion of the collar, but it is evident that even if not molded to shape and even if not made very stifi the apron of the collar will, even if made of ordinary rubberized material, stand out from themain body portion thereof if out so as to have a largfr circumference at the free edge portion t an at the portion thereof joining with the main body portion. I I Y It wil be seen that with the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive and Fig 6, if water runs down the surface of the garment there will always be a dry portion at the collar duejto the fact that the moisture will drop from the free edge 27 of the flange or apron 26. and the underneath sur-' face 28 of said apron or flange will remain dry. Also, the ggrtion 29 of, theupstanding portion 22 will dry due to the protection afforded by-the apron 26. Thus, current will not be able-to travel along the outer strap 31 maybe provided for the collar 22,

said strap engaging with a suitable fastening member 32 such-as avbutton. The strap 31 should be placed a suflicient distance from the flange or apron 26 so that the same can not get under the flange or apron 26 and bridge the gap between the upstanding portion 22 of the .flange or apron 26 as the strap 31 might be damp or wet thus becom-y ing a conductor of current.

Instead ofmaking the collar 22 a portion of the garment it may be made a separate member such as 22 shown in Fig. 4,

. stantiall 22, it beln the member. 22'. being then provided with a suitable flange or apron portion 33 that is adapted to overlap the portion of the rubber protective coat or garment over which the same is placed. In case a detachable collar 22 is provided, a collarless garment maybe provided for wearing with said collar or the ordinary collar on the garment may be laced inside the collar 22'. In Fi' 4 the ange 33 is shown as lapping over t e portion ofthe garment 10' adjoining the neck portion thereof and the collar 22- is' shown as being provided with an apron or flange portion '26 corresponding to the'apron or flange 26, being made in subthe same manner as the collar understood that any number of plies may e used in either the collar 22 or 22. However, in the drawings, the collar 22'- is shown as comprising a' single ply of fabric 23 coated with heavy plies of rubber or otherinsulatin material 24 on both sides thereof, said rein orcement 23' extendinginto both the aprons 33 and 26. A strap 31 having a buttonhole co-operating with a button 32' is used for holding the collar in closed position in the form shown in Fig.

4, the strap 31' and the strap 31 operating in thesame manner.

While the edges 34 and 35 of the collar are shown as being separated in Fig. 4, it is, of course, preferred that the same are closely adjacent when the collar is closed, as shown.

in Fig. 1, thus forming a substantially water tight collar. b

' It will be noted from Figs. 1 and 3 that the inner ply 1-9 of the sleeve 17 referably is slightly lODfithan the outer s eeve portion, thus ma g it easier to insert the gauntlet or cuff portion 21 into the sleeve. It will further be noted from Fig. '1 that the sleevesj17- arefof what is known as the raglan type. That is, the seams extend upwhen a Y 3. In a garment for protecting the wearer v material and an inte wardlyin converging relation toward the base of the collar,- thus avoiding an upwardly projecting seam of the shoulder that might accidentally engage with the apron 26 T of the collar.

Referrin now to Figs. 8 and 9, it Will be seen that t e edge 15 of the garment forms an outer flap and that an inner flap 37 is secured thereto, said flap being made of rubber or rubberized fabric. The edge 38 of the garment is received between said flaps, this arrangement preventing the entrance of water at the opening in the front of the garment. I 7 v v The loop members 14 each have a pair of parallel end portions 39 secured between the ply 15 and the flap 40 by means of stitches 4-1. The tongues 16 are provided with tapered ends 42 and are secured to reinforcing patches 43 in any suitable manner, said,

patches 43 being secured to the edge 38 in any suitable'manner. The members 14,40,

16and 43 are made of Waterproof flexible 1 material such as rubberized fabric, and due to the construction of, and materials of said fastening devices, all danger of current passing to the vinterior of the the fastening devices is avoi ed.

In order to prevent tearing out of the stitches 44 when the edge 38 is secured to the edge 15 adjacent the crotch, a reinforcing patch 45 is secured to said edges by means of the stitches 46 and 47, said patch taking all the strain at this point when the garment is being put on and taken off. The flaipr 37 is free at its lower end as will be clear om Fig. 8 to permit this construction. Having thus described our invention, what we desire to claim and secure by United States-Letters Patent is 1. In a garment for protecting the wearer against electrical shock, an upstandingcollar having an outer surface of di-electlic material and a waterproof apron of less width than said collar havin a surface of dielectric material depen ing therefrom, the free edge of said apron being spaced 9. substantial distance from said collar.

arment due to.

2. In agarment for protecting the wearer from'said collar and from the body portion a of said garment whereby. theup r surface of said apron-and the outer sur ace of said body pgrtion are insulated, from each other th surfaces are wet.

against electricalshock', an upstandin' collar having'anfouter surface of v -di'- 'ectric I I alwaterproof a ran having a surface of -elect'ric 'materia 'dependin therefrom, the free edge of said apron eing spaced a Substantial distance from said collar and from the body portion of said garment whereby the up er surface of said, apron and the outer surf body ortion are insulated from each. other when oth surfaces are wet, said apron being provided with therein.

4. In a garment for protecting the wearer against electrical shock, 'astifi neck embracing portion having a surface of insulating material and a sti apron havingan insulating waterproof surface depending from the of to form a water tight annular open ended pocket in said sleeve. v 5. A garment for protecting the wearer from electric shock comprising a body por- J anaeroace of said.

plies of reinforcing fabric tion having a surface of waterproof insulat-' ing material, a stiff upstanding collar -there-.

on having a surface of waterproof insulating material and an apron extending downwardly and outwardly from the top edge of said collartand having a surface of waterproof insulating material, said aplron being of less width than said collar w ereby the free lower edge thereof is spaced, above and insulated from said body portion.

6. In a garment for protecting the wearer against electrical shock an upstanding collar adapted tolcompletely enclose the neck of the wearer and having an outer surface of di-electric material, and a WHlZGIPIOOf apron of less width than said collar having a surface of di-electric material depending therefrom,'the free edge of said apron bein spaced a substantial distance from said co lar, said apron throughout its width extending completely around the collar, to provide a dry zone completely around the outside of said collar.

In witness whereof, we hereunto subscribe our names this 26th day of J une, A. D. 1924.

CHARLES H. DAVIS. x HENRrWi- UECK. 

